In this specially-created short film, Janet McBain, curator at the Scottish Screen Archive, discusses the Oscar-winning documentary Seawards the Great Ships
(1960). Made to promote and celebrate Scotland's shipbuilding
achievements, Seawards was released at a time when Clydeside was the world's
shipyard. In fact, at this time as many as 23 shipyards occupied a
two-mile stretch of riverbank.

The film's treatment was written by John Grierson, the Scottish-born
godfather of British documentary film, and directed by Hilary Harris, a young
American filmmaker. It took over a year to make, with the production team
reportedly filming every launch from each of the 23 yards during the process.

McBain takes us through the film's key elements, revealing surprising facts
about the way some of the extraordinary shots were constructed and explaining
why the narrator's voice was changed several times. She also celebrates
Seawards the Great Ships as a glorious swansong of shipbuilding on the Clyde and
the epitome of the documentary film craft in Scotland.